phones

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

Crave has made no secret of its love for Nokia's Xpress Music phones. And what's not to love? Both the 5300 and the 5700 are fun, stylish handsets that offer excellent features and superior performance. In fact, our biggest disappointment was that Nokia seemed to be dragging its feet in introducing more Xpress Music models.

So you can imagine that were excited to learn that our wishes had been fulfilled. Today in London, Nokia unveiled two new 5310 and 5610 Xpress Music phones. Though they take a different design approach, the phones offer similar high-end multimedia and connectivity … Read more

Man, does it feel like Christmas in August or what? Yeah, you know what I'm talking 'bout. In addition to several other product and service announcements today, Nokia introduced two new models of the coveted Nokia N95 smart phone: an 8GB version and a North America edition.

Starting with the latter, the U.S. version of the N95 looks much like the current model from the outside, but there's been some work done under the hood to make the mobile a little more powerful. It comes with twice as much RAM and will also ship with a 2GB … Read more

Remember back in May when we teased you with some enticing photos of the yet-to-be-confirmed Nokia N81 and Nokia N82? Well, my friends, we tease you no more. The company today officially unveiled the Nokia N81 multimedia computer, with expected availability in Q4. It's likely that the N81 will ship in certain European and Asian markets first--possibly in October--but Nokia said there shouldn't be too much of lag between those launches and the U.S. release. Thank gawd.

There will be two versions of the Nokia N81: an 8GB model and one with a microSD expansion slot that … Read more

A new report surfaced Tuesday that Google's hell-bent on making its own mobile phone operating system, adding to the rumors that a prototype could be released soon.

Engadget is reporting that we could hear official news from Google about its plans for a handset-optimized operating system in September. The newest report falls into the more likely category--at least in my opinion--that Google would be working with existing phone companies on a device that uses a Google-developed operating system and suite of mobile applications, not building its own hardware.

The appeal for Google is simple: mobile phone growth is exploding, … Read more

We'll get straight to the point here. Nokia has an event scheduled for tomorrow in London, and several blog sites, including Gearfuse and Unwired View, are reporting that the Finnish cell phone manufacturer will unveil five new mobiles. Among the rumored models are the Nokia N81, an 8GB Nokia N95, and several XpressMusic phones. Got your attention, didn't we? Yeah, sleep on that, as we'll have to wait till tomorrow to see if this all true or just someone's horrible idea of a practical joke.

Well, the 17-year-old boy genius with a soldering iron and a lot of heart isn't in trouble yet, but it does appear that while doing it yourself isn't an issue, there is some question about whether or not informing others how to hack an iPhone to use with another service is exactly legal.

Personally, the horned one thinks a better use of the beloved DCMA would be saving the Internet from the scourge of Russian pirate music.

He doesn't know about you, but the thought of t.A.T.u.'s version of Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Rum … Read more

What makes a cell phone more than a phone? What it can do. Software can elevate your plastic slider, candy bar, or PDA above its earthly mechanics and turn it into the kind of dream machine that entertains you and organizes your life.

Consider, for example, ListPro (for Pocket PC, Palm, and Smartphone), a handy organizer with a slew of built-in, customizable list templates for managing everything from your shopping to your calendar to the sudden surge of brilliance that will eventually lead to that multimillion-dollar idea. No really, it can do that.… Read more

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. For all of you who are dreaming sweet thoughts of the HTC Kaiser like I am, we're one step closer to seeing the vision come true. Today, the company announced the HTC TyTN II for Europe; hopefully signifying that the U.S. launch won't be too far behind.

Despite the different naming scheme, the TyTN II is the same smart phone as the Kaiser we've discussed before on Crave. The Windows Mobile 6 device features a 2.8-inch, QVGA touch screen that slides out and tilts up to give you a … Read more