Nokia Drops the Bomb: Plans to Use Windows Phone as Main Platform

Nokia dropped a bombshell announcement today.

It’s the beginning of a new era for Nokia: the company announced a “strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a global mobile ecosystem based on highly complementary assets.” That means that yes, Nokia will be adopting Windows Phone for future smartphones. But it’s more than that: the partnership means that Nokia will also integrate its current apps with Microsoft products, while Microsoft will bring its developer tools to the table.
Is it the right move? And what about Symbian and MeeGo? Details inside.

The move wasn’t completely unexpected. Nokia could have taken three possible routes for its smartphone line: MeeGo, Android, or Windows Phone. Actually, going full steam ahead with MeeGo probably would have sounded a death knell for the company, considering how ridiculously late to the game it would have been released. So the shift would be either to an Android or Windows Phone platform, and I think most people assumed that it would be the former, despite Stephen Elop’s previous high-level position at Microsoft. (for the record, I certainly did)
But if Nokia’s stock price today was anything to go by, investors were definitely expecting some other news. Shares of Nokia fell 14% on the news.
Meanwhile, the jump from one OS to another leads to some big questions, namely about Symbian and MeeGo.
Symbian’s future is pretty obvious: Nokia’s press release says that the company will turn it into a “franchise platform, leveraging previous investments to harvest additional value.” My translation: they’re going to suck it dry. It makes sense, considering that Symbian is clearly on its last legs (or already on the ground, depending on how you look at it).
As for MeeGo, its role isn’t quite as well defined:
This of course came on the news that Nokia had already dropped its next MeeGo
Sound decision or not, the real winner here is Microsoft. With millions of Nokia Windows Phone devices slated to release sometime in the future, worldwide, it now has a fighting chance to level the playing field against the likes of Android and iOS.
Press Release
Nokia drops new MeeGo phone,bemoans plight-Reuters

Sony Ericsson Multimedia Dock DK300

Heres a short product clip that shows off both design and the functionality of the sleek, stylish and easy-to-use multimedia dock from Sony Ericsson.

LG unveils new Wireless Charging Pad

LG Mobile Phones announced today the LG Wireless Charging Pad (WCP-700).  Featuring a sleek and sharp design, LG Wireless Charging Pad is poised to revolutionize wireless charging as we know it.  With inductive coils built into the battery doors and internal contacts, advanced wireless charging technology allows for a cord-free power source – alleviating the need for external connections that limit the phones usability.

LG Wireless Charging Pad provides industry leading wireless charging and ergonomics. For easy and intuitive use, LG Wireless Charging Pad features audible and tactile feedback when a phone is placed on the pad, as well as multi-colored LED lights to indicate charging status. Taking the hassle out of charging your wireless devices, LG Wireless Charging Pad also sports a compact, sleek design to easily accommodate an on-the-go lifestyle.

Key features:

• Visual, audible and tactile feedback – allows user to see, feel and hear when the phone is placed properly on the pad
• Power LED – Blue = Plugged in
• Battery LED – Orange = Ready to Charge
• Battery LED – Flashing Green = Phone is Charging Correctly
• Battery LED – Solid Green = Phone is Fully Charged
• Slim and sleek design – allows for convenient storage, taking up minimal space
• Effective Range – 7mm from center of placement guide
• Dimensions – 6.29?x3.54?x0.39?

Pricing and availability:

• The LG WCP-700 will be available in early April for $69.99.

Sprint announces HTC EVO 3D – Live hands on video

The HTC EVO 3D features a qHD 3D capable display and should have some potent bullets-namely a 1.2GHz Snapdragon MSM8660 dual-core processor, Android 2.3 under the hood and 5MP dual-lens camera for 3D video capture

Opera Mobile 11 browser demoed on Nokia N8, Lg Optimus 2x and Samsung Galaxy S

The new Opera Mobile 11 web browser gets demoed on the Nokia N8, Lg Optimus 2x and Samsung Galaxy S. Video after the break!

Pet Pal – iPhone application for animal lovers [Humor]

Using your iPhone speakers, the Pet Pal emits ultrawave signals that are impossible for human ears to perceive. For certain animals, however, these waves are perceived like subliminal messages that nearly 95% of all tested animals cannot ignore. Depending on the frequency and intensity of the waves, various parts of the animal’s brain are stimulated, triggering different instinctual behaviors.

Introducing the HTC Flyer Tablet

Introducing the HTC Flyer. The HTC Flyer is a compact 7-inch touchscreen Android 2.3.3 tablet with 600x1024 pixels res, which will come with an integrated pressure-sensitive pen experience, courtesy of the new HTC Scribe technology. The feature will be used for note-taking and drawing. The tablet will be constructed out of HTC trademark aluminum unibody. It will be powered by a single-core 1.5GHz processor, and will feature 1GB RAM, coupled with 32GB of built-in storage (microSD slot is available). For photo and video taking the tablet biz will offer a 5MP main shooter, as well as a secondary 1.3MP front-facing cam for video chats. Powering all this goodness will be courtesy of a 4000mAh battery that is said to provide up to 4 hours of constant video playback.

Unboxing the HTC ThunderBolt

The guys at phonedog unboxes the HTC ThunderBolt. Sporting a 4.3 inch WVGA display with a 800 x 480 resolution, the Thunderbolt is aimed at media enthusiasts. On the back of the handset you’ll find an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, capable of recording HD quality video at 720p. The handset also sports a HTC HD7 style kickstand for laid-back viewing, alongside Dolby Mobile surround sound and DLNA integration. Running Android 2.2 OS with HTC Sense 2.0 UI, the HTC Thunderbolt has access to HTCSense.com, offering remote mobile locating straight from the web. Although unconfirmed, the handset’s 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera suggests an upgrade to Gingerbread will be available.

The HTC Thunderbolt also features GPS powered by Google Maps, Skype integration, dual microphones, HSDPA and WiFi connectivity and up to 32GB of storage via microSD.

Sony Ericsson Xperia ARC Vs. Nokia N8 – Video Camera comparison

This is a comparison between the video cameras of the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc and the Nokia N8. Which one do you think is the best?

LG Optimus 2X multitouch demoed

The guys at IntoMobile takes a look at the LG Optimus 2X and its ability to do multitouch. They counted this device registering 10 inputs at once. The LG Optimus 2X is the first smartphone to run on a dual-core 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. It has a well-sized display measuring 4 inches, large enough for you to watch the videos you made in HD 1080p. A 1500mAh battery powers the model which will include a microSD slot to expand storage capacity. The device runs Android 2.2 with an upgrade to Android 2.3 expected eventually.

Hands-on with Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo

The Sony Ericsson Xperia neo takes Android 2.3 Gingerbread mainstream, with its 3.7″ 480x854 pixels screen, utilizing the Mobile BRAVIA Engine for enhanced sharpness and contrast when watching multimedia. The Sony Ericsson Xperia neo will come with support for HD video playback, HDMI-out port, an Exmor R sensor for the 8MP camera with LED flash. It is powered by a second generation 1GHz Snapdragon processor, so you can rest assured performance won’t be an issue here.

Polyply – best custom made iPhone / iPad / iPod stand ever (Pictures)

Here are a few more pictures of Polyply, the super cool custom made iPhone / iPad / iPod stand. Check out the pictures after the break. Enjoy!

Apple iPhone 4 vs. Motorola ATRIX 4G – Video comparison

PhoneArena presents a brief comparison of the Motorola ATRIX 4G and Apple iPhone 4. Video after the break.

Nokia’s WP7 Phone ! revealed today ?

Excited to see the Nokia-WP7 phone this much early !

What you are seeing here is the upcoming Nokia’s first WP7 powered smart phone . This Nokia’s first windows phone 7 Images are revealed today by Endgadget technology blog.

It looks like most of the Samsung and HTC big touch screen phones in the market. The detailed specs of the Nokia-WP7 phone is not available yet.Hopefully I guess that the processor should be minimum 1GHZ and the RAM should be not less than 512MB.Like to see the clear black display,over 8MP AF camera in the Nokia WP7 phone ,but my insight says Nokia will offer an EDof (Fixed Focus )camera with this device.
Nokia-WP 7 phones seems to be around the corner . Will you invest on a New Hi -End Symbian phone as for now ?

Hands-on with HTC EVO 3D

Heres a live hands-on video with the new HTC EVO 3D. The HTC EVO 3D features a qHD 3D capable display and should have some potent bullets-namely a 1.2GHz Snapdragon MSM8660 dual-core processor, Android 2.3 under the hood and 5MP dual-lens camera for 3D video capture.

Hands-on with HTC EVO View 4G

Heres a first look at the new HTC EVO View 4G. The HTC EVO View 4G is the Sprint version of the HTC Flyer tablet. It features a 7-inch display with 1024 x 600 resolution, two cameras and Android 2.3

Hands-on with Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

The folks at MobileBurn takes a look at the new updated Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android Honeycomb tablet that was revealed at CTIA 2010. The Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 is the bigger brother of the Galaxy Tab, featuring a 10.1″ display 1GHz dual-core processor, Android 3.0 and an 3MP camera that can record video in HD.

Android: HTC EVO 3D sense user interface – Demo

PhoneArena presents a video demonstration of the HTC EVO 3D Sense User Interface. The HTC EVO 3D features a qHD 3D capable display and should have some potent bullets-namely a 1.2GHz Snapdragon MSM8660 dual-core processor, Android 2.3 under the hood and 5MP dual-lens camera for 3D video capture.

Strength Test: Apple Pad vs Apple iPad 2

The guys at iFixYouri had a piece of ipad 2 glass, and an ipad 1 glass, and really wanted to see how it’d hold up under bending. The iPhone 4 glass was bendible, not shatterproof, but bendible. They were extremely shocked at how much it could bend. What’s this good for? Well, flex is good for shock absorption, if you drop stuff on it, and durability. Check out the video after the break.

CTIA 2011: Sprint Nexus S 4G demo

Google Nexus S 4G is the is the WiMAX capable brother of the Google Nexus S. It is not a great leap forward in the same way that the original Nexus was but rather is more like a refreshed version of the Samsung Galaxy S. It runs Google’s new version of Android OS Gingerbread and it is powered by 1GHz processor. Other features include a 4-inch Super AMOLED Contour Display, which is slightly curved, 5MP camera, Near Field Communication (NFC), Wi-Fi and more.

CTIA 2011: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play demo

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is the first PlayStation Certified device and the first specialized Android gaming phone to hit the market. It features a slide-out gamepad, 4″ LCD screen and a second generation 1GHz Snapdragon chipset. There is a dedicated section on Android Market for it, which will list titles written specifically for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, or ported over from other mobile devices.

Hands-on with HTC HD7S

Live from CTIA 2011: PhoneArena presents a video demonstration of the HTC HD7S. The HTC HD7S is a re-branded version of the HTC HD7. The phone is equipped with a 4.3-inch WVGA Super LCD display which is the largest in the WP7 lineup, but even more intriguing is the fact that the phone will ship with an updated version of Microsoft’s platform supporting copy and paste. On the hardware side you get a 1GHz single-core processor, while in the camera department you have a 5-megapixel snapper.

Hands-on with Nokia Astound

PhoneArena presents a video hands-on with the Nokia Astound (Nokia C7). The Nokia C7 Astound is a powerful combination of internet, video, photos, music, maps with Symbian^3 operating system. With a large 3.5″ AMOLED capacitive touch screen supporting pinch to zoom, social networking integration, a 8 megapixel Full Focus camera with dual LED flash, shooting 720p HD video, NFC, On Demand Web TV and A-GPS, you can create, discover and share a world of creativity. Additionally, for the software developers, the device includes Qt 4.7.2, Java MIDP 2.1, Bluetooth 3.0 and Flash Lite 4.0.

The Nokia C7 Astound brings also compatibility with popular internet video formats and desktop Flash. Nokia has released a customizable open source Web TV app template for content providers to mobilize their existing Web TV services and deploy them on Nokia Symbian^3 devices. The template has been created and used in a collaboration with dozens of globally acclaimed broadcasters.

Samsung GALAXY Tab 8.9 – Live video demo

Samsung GALAXY Tab 8.9 is the smaller brother of the GALAXY Tab 10.1 and obviously will be equipped with an 8.9-inch touchscreen, but the exciting part here is its unprecedented thinness of just 8.6mm! That’s 0.2mm thinner than the iPad 2, which is the current leader in this aspect. In addition, the device’s weight will be fixed at just 16.5 oz (470 grams), making it one of the lightest full-sized tablets out there.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – Unboxing, Review and Hands-on

The folks at PocketNow reviews the new Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. You can find the unboxing, review and the live hands-on videos after the break. Enjoy!

Hands-on with Nokia E7

The guys at All About Phones takes a look at the new Nokia E7. The Nokia E7 is a sleek handset with a 4 inch capacitive touchscreen featuring ClearBlack technology, and a full slide out QWERTY keypad. It comes complete with full screen e-mail, MS office apps and full HTML browser. There is an 8 megapixel full focus camera with LED flash, 2x digital zoom, exposure compensation and a full screen viewfinder. It has 2 microphones, a compass, an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor and flight mode. There is a musicplayer and a stereo FM radio with RDS. This Quad band phone weighs 176 grams and has a battery which gives up to 9 hours of talktime or 18 days on standby.

Review: Nokia E7

Heres a 15 min long video review by MobileTechReview of the Nokia E7 Symbian ^3 smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard.