nokia

FCC approves 3G version of Nokia N95

The fellas at the freakin' FCC have given their blessing to Nokia's latest product, a 3G version of the N95 slider phone.

Before any wireless device can be sold in the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission has to test it to make sure its emissions won't cause brain damage or summon aliens from another planet. One nice side effect of that (other than the lack of brain damage) is that the FCC publishes the results of those tests on its Web site before the device is formally released, complete with photos and a user manual.

Wirelessinfo.com (… Read more

Jaiku launches always-on app for Nokia phones

Jaiku's got a freshly updated mobile app for owners of Nokia handsets running the latest version of the S60 OS. Once installed, it lets you keep track of your Jaiku buddies without having to resort to your phone's Web browser. The real pull however, is presence, which lets you see what your Jaiku friends are up to live--or go back and take a look at their previous messages using a feature they call "stream view." With the new presence system, if you see one of your friends online, you can begin a conversation with them, turning … Read more

Nokia recalls cell phone batteries

Is your cell phone feeling a little extra toasty after a long chat? Well, if it's one of 46 million made by Nokia it could be part of a massive battery recall.

On Tuesday, Nokia, the world's largest cell phone maker, said that a batch of cell phone batteries that were made for the company between December 2005 and November 2006 have been overheating. The company said that around 100 incidents of overheating have been reported, but no one has reported serious injuries or property damage.

The phone batteries affected were made by Japanese manufacturer Matsushita Electric Industrial. … Read more

Are we to get our very own Nokia N95 with 3G?

Well, hey now! (Does anyone else remember this episode from The Larry Sanders Show?) Symbian-Guru.com received this alleged promo flyer for a U.S. version of the Nokia N95 super smart phone. The revamped model includes the addition of HSDPA (850/1900 MHz) 3G support, a higher-capacity 1200mAh battery (compared to the old 950mAh lithium-ion cell), increased 128MB of RAM, a 1GB microSD card included in the box, and a redesigned black back cover. Some say that this flavor of the N95 could land stateside as early as next month with the backing of AT&T, but we'… Read more

Microsoft licenses DRM technology to Nokia

Yesterday, mobile phone giant Nokia announced it would license PlayReady, a new digital rights management (DRM) technology developed by Microsoft. This is the first win for PlayReady, and represents a pretty major shift for Microsoft.

Until about two years ago, Microsoft's DRM strategy was tied up with the Windows Media platform. Microsoft invested considerable research and development into improving Windows Media DRM. For example, in 2004, Microsoft rolled out a new version of Windows Media DRM that made it viable for content owners to allow music from subscription-based services to be transferred to portable devices. With Windows Media DRM 10, … Read more

Nokia Prism collection debuts

Nokia isn't shy about coming out with interesting and unique fashion phones--remember its L'Amour collection from last year?--so it's no surprise that the company has released two new phones that are decidedly design-focused. The Prism collection--so-named because of their unique diamond-cut and prismlike surfaces--were introduced yesterday in Finland, though we had seen similar models destined for Asia earlier.

The 7900 Prism has a sleek, black front with an anodized aluminum back cover, plus an OLED main display that shows as many as 16 million colors. It supports wallpaper and screensavers that change color depending on the … Read more

Nokia's success highlights Motorola's woes

Nokia, the No. 1 cell phone maker in the world, reported another strong quarter of growth, as it capitalizes on poor sales from one of its main competitors, Motorola.

Nokia said Thursday that it shipped 100.8 million handsets during the quarter, an increase of 29 percent compared with the previous year. The company now boasts that it has roughly 38 percent of the worldwide handset market. Meanwhile, Motorola's market share has slipped in the second quarter, placing it in third place behind rival Samsung Electronics.

Nokia's success was driven mostly by sales in Europe, the Middle East … Read more

Mobile carriers' message: In SMS spam, users pay

My father's Motorola E815 from Verizon is suffering chronic SMS, or text message, spam. At first, the unwanted messages trickled in--religious messages with pictures of saints one time, pharmaceutical marketing another. Then the spam rate escalated. After one spammy text message yesterday and two this morning, Dad decided he wanted out.

"Out" in his case, and in the case of most North American mobile phone users, is as much about the phone bill as it is receiving unwanted texts. Service providers like Verizon and T-Mobile charge for inbound and outbound SMS activity, either per message, generally 10 cents to 15 cents per outgoing text message, or as part of a larger service, usually between $5 and $10 more per month depending on the plan. Data downloads cost extra too, so spam texts with image attachments ratchet up the bill. "This was becoming an expensive habit," says Dad.

The kicker, of course, is that it's not his habit.… Read more

Nokia buys media-sharing site Twango

Media-sharing site Twango updated its Web site on Monday to announce that it's been chomped up by cell phone manufacturer Nokia. With its cool new toy, Nokia hopes to make it easier for handset owners to share multimedia content among desktop, Web, and mobile platforms.

"The Twango acquisition is a concrete step towards our consumer Internet services vision of providing seamless access to information, entertainment, and social networks--at any time, anywhere, from any connected device, in any way that you choose," said Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's executive vice president and general manager of multimedia at Nokia, in … Read more

Beware: Jealous Computers

Beware of JEALOUS COMPUTERS! Apparently they have started to attack (particularly N95 owners)... here you see a few poor victims of a laptop bite and a keyboard to the face. Not pretty. Well Nokia has really gone all out on this viral N95 site... I just wrote up a big piece on this over at NOTCOT, and it was too hilarious, bizarre, and nicely designed not to share with you CNET readers too. Basically they have created a whole series of PSAs, posters, tshirts, and even a mug (well, half mug, and well they have a cool pic, but it … Read more