Nokia

Nokia shutters its flagship China store

Nokia has closed its flagship store in China, once touted as its largest worldwide.

Nokia told ZDNet that the Shanghai store, which opened in 2007, shut down at the end of March. CNET also confirmed the closure.

"For a while now, Nokia has been focusing on growing its presence in operator and third-party retail outlets, rather than through our own physical stores," according to a company representative. "We are, of course, also continuously beefing up our online presence."

Nokia is shuttering the store even as it presses further to regain lost ground in China, considered one … Read more

Pictures of possible early Nokia Lumia 950 leaked

Could this be one of the next Nokia Lumias that'll be hitting the market soon?

According to Windows Phone Central, the above image may be a picture of an early (and rather drab) prototype model of the Lumia 950.

The site further goes on to note that its possible specs include an AMOLED touch screen with a 1,280x768-pixel resolution, 2GB of RAM, and an extended battery life.

We here at CNET have to throw our hats in and say that this photo looks like a no-go. And personally, I think it looks more like a midlevel LG Optimus … Read more

T-Mobile to Lumia 810 users: No LTE for you

Nokia Lumia 810 owners hoping for an update to 4G LTE are out of luck.

The Lumia 810's hardware can support both HSPA+ and LTE; however, T-Mobile has confirmed that an update to LTE isn't going to happen -- at least not at this point, according to a statement sent to CNET today:

While the Nokia Lumia 810 features a chipset, which provides the hardware capability to support both HSPA+42 and LTE, the device will not automatically access our LTE network and, at this time, it will not receive an update to do so.

T-Mobile is committed … Read more

April Fools' 2013: From Twttr to Google Nose to Nokia's microwave

You probably know this already, but today is April Fools' Day.

And the pranks, they are a-comin'. This year's batch of springtime hijinks from the greater tech community includes the usual onslaught from Google, along with notable entrants from Nokia, Sony, and others. Without further ado, here are some of the highlights.

While it waits for its Lumia smartphones to build up a head of steam, Nokia is showing off a touch-screen microwave oven, the Nokia 5AM-TH1N6 Constellation, which features a Window Phone-like interface ("which can be operated with oven mitts"). Not to be outdone by Samsung … Read more

India hits Nokia with demand for $338M in back taxes

Nokia confirmed today it has been slapped with a demand for back taxes by Indian tax authorities.

According to Reuters, the Finnish phone maker was hit with a demand for income taxes 20.8 billion rupees ($383 million) going back five fiscal years.

It comes only a month after one of Nokia's factories in India was raided by the country's tax authorities.

The tax demand was issued on March 15. A stay has been placed on the demand, though, allowing Nokia to appeal the decision.

Nokia responded to Reuters' request for comment with a statement that "it … Read more

Windows Phone outships iPhone in some countries

Windows Phone is outshining the iPhone in several countries. But relax, Apple, there is an explanation.

In a blog posted Tuesday, Microsoft corporate communications VP Frank Shaw cited an IDC report revealing that Windows Phone has reached 10 percent market share in a number of countries. Along with that milestone, Windows Phone has outshipped Apple's iPhone in seven markets across the globe.

Shaw didn't divulge the names of those seven markets. But IDC did and explained why Windows Phone has a foothold in those regions.

Speaking with The New York Times yesterday, IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said that … Read more

In trouble, tech CEO? Bash the iPhone

I've spent the whole week uttering rude words at my iPhone 5.

Some had four letters, some have had fewer. Several had four syllables. All were expressions of utter disdain, frustration or disappointment.

I'm very suggestible, you see. And this week, two very clever tech CEOs publicly denigrated Apple's lucky charm, making it seem like it was the result of a couple of parts that had fallen off a Segway.

First, there was BlackBerry's Thorsten Heins, who declared that the iPhone user interface is as old as Jay Leno's jokes. Well, his actual words were: &… Read more

Nokia CEO Elop throws iPhone on live TV

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has certainly made clear his feelings about the iPhone.

In an interview on Finnish TV this week, Elop is repeatedly asked about the Lumia 928, which will reportedly pop up next month via Verizon. Despite the interviewer's persistence, the jovial Nokia chief keeps dodging questions about the 928, claiming he doesn't know anything about it because it hasn't yet been announced.

Instead, Elop tries to tout the Lumia 620, a lower-end Windows Phone handset that popped up in January and is now debuting in Finland. Eventually, the frustrated interviewer pulls out his iPhone, … Read more

The sheer sadness of Nokia begging Instagram for a date

I have just returned from dinner with my engineer friend George.

He was frustrated. He was diluting his viognier with tears.

No, it isn't his personal life. Well, not only. Among the weird yogini, the peculiar myopic (emotionally) UX designer, and the large-boned, wayward-intentioned social worker, he's doing alright. Just.

But his phone isn't.

He decided to buy a Nokia Lumia 920. He had good reasons for this. It's a very good phone. Its additional weight gives it a touch of gravitas. The camera is very nice, especially in the dark (which the yogini especially appreciates). … Read more

Samsung poised to double lead over phone rivals, IHS says

Thought Samsung's smartphone market share was high before? Just wait until the Galaxy S4 is released, IHS said today.

The technology research firm expects Samsung to more than double its percentage point lead over rivals from 2012 to 2013. Samsung held 29 percent of the cell phone market in 2012, while Nokia ranked No. 2 with 24 percent. IHS didn't specify what percent of the market Samsung should control this year but said its lead over its nearest rival should rise to 11 percent (from the 5 percentage point lead in 2012).

That's a pretty bullish estimate … Read more