The Nokia Blog » Editorials

Deal: Nokia E71 + BH-606 Bluetooth $259. Nokia E63 + BH-105 $159. Expires March 2nd

Mark Guim — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:47:11 +0000

There are two new coupons at Dell this weekend for those interested in getting some cheap Eseries devices. Use coupon B51B65786NX61Z to get the Nokia E71 with BH-606 for $259.99, and coupon DD343ZTM2JP2V8 to get the E63 with BH-105 for $159.99. Offers expire March 2nd.

Unfortunately, I think these coupons only work in the USA.

I have reviewed the Nokia E71 almost two years ago. The Nokia E72 is its replacement, but many people are still happy with the original. The Nokia E63 is the cheaper, thicker, uglier looking version. Make sure to read the full specifications for more details: Nokia E71, Nokia E63.

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Spotted: Nokia Booklet 3G in Olivia Munn Complex Magazine Spread

Mark Guim — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:34:46 +0000

There’s a two-page spread of the Nokia Booklet 3G in the March issue of my favorite magazine, Complex. It features the mini-laptop as actress, model, and TV personality Olivia Munn’s favorite toy for 2010. It helps her stay connected to her fans, followers, friends, and family.

Click for larger image

For a closer look, the web version of the spread can be accessed at Complex’s site here. They also have a promotion for your chance to win a Nokia Booklet 3G. It ends on February 28th.

On her blog, Olivia says the Booklet 3G is super light and carry it in her purse everyday. The 12 hours battery life let her blog, Tweet, and email using 3G for a couple of days before charging.

The Nokia Booklet 3G features a 10.1 inch display, front-facing camera, 0.79 inch thick, Windows 7, and more. Make sure to read my Booklet 3G review for more details on this device..

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Nokia N8 To Be Announced at MWC with Symbian^3, 12MP, 720p Recording?

Mark Guim — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:04:33 +0000

Tom’s Guide from France claims to have received exclusive information on upcoming Nokia devices. They report that Nokia will have five total ranges including the C, X, E, N, and S series. Perhaps the biggest scoop is about Nokia’s supposedly next major release named the Nokia N8.

The site is in French, so I’m trying to quote from the translation.

According to the Tom’s Guide, here are the letters and numbers that identify the series.

C: lower end voice-based.
X: focus on entertainment, music for a young target
E: dedicated to business, solutions for e-mails
N: High-end
S: very upscale and limited editions

They highlighted some devices as major models.

Nokia C5-00 – Basic business device with GPS. Expected June.
Nokia C3-00 – A low-cost multitasking Symbian S40 Qwerty device that run emails in the background.
Nokia C5-01 – Qwerty device that’s a direct competitor to Blackberry.

And last but not least, the Nokia N8-00. It is scheduled for the summer with a capacitive multitouch 3.5in display and be the first to offer Symbian^3 OS. It carries a 12 megapixel camera and capture 720p at 30 frames per second. It will also feature an HDMI output. Another interesting mention is Video on Demand through the Ovi Store.

I don’t know how reliable this information is, but the web site looks legitimate. MWC is just a few days away. We’ll see if there’s any truth to these rumors.

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Nokia N900 Trailing in the 2009 Engadget Awards

Mark Guim — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:55:35 +0000

There’s still plenty of time, but after 4 days of voting, the Nokia N900 is losing badly to the iPhone 3GS in 2 categories of the 2009 Engadget Awards. Do you think the N900 is worthy to grab the titles Smartphone of the Year or Gadget of the Year? Vote now!

Nokia also snagged a nomination for the Booklet 3G in the Netbook of the Year category. I think they should win all the 3 categories, but this fanboy and Nokia blogger may be biased. You can vote until February 20th 11:59PM EDT.

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Thumbs Up to Nokia’s Ovi Store

Mark Guim — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:49:03 +0000

I had a really great Ovi Store experience today. I found out about a new app called Maps Booster from the official Ovi Daily App blog and thought of trying it out for $2.99. I made the purchase on the Nokia N97 mini and was surprised I can pay with my phone bill. The app worked great, so I thought it was worth installing on my other phones too. To my surprise yet again, the Ovi Store knew I already paid for it. I was able to re-download the app on the Nokia N97 and the 5800 free of charge.

Nokia announced early January that AT&T customers were able to purchase paid content at the Ovi Store using their phone bill, but only a few devices were initially supported. More devices were promised to be compatible. I wasn’t expecting it to come soon after the announcement, so I was surprised to see the Nokia N97, N97 mini, and the 5800 with carrier billing today. If you have AT&T, check your device if the Ovi Store now supports carrier billing.

The other surprise I encountered was the ability to re-download purchased apps on other devices. When did this happen? This makes it really handy for people like me who switch phones frequently.

Today’s experience with the Ovi Store is definitely an improvement compared to maybe a few months ago. Remember Ben Smith’s horrible shopping story with the Ovi Store and Hannah Montana?

As you can tell, I’m really liking the Ovi Store now. I notice more content being added and the Ovi Daily App blog does a great job highlighting the good ones to try out. Thumbs up, Ovi Store! I’m a happy customer.

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Deal: Nokia N97 Mini $399 at Dell After Coupon – Exp 2/3

Mark Guim — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:02:30 +0000

Use coupon code V4L$QMLFX89LFT to get the Nokia N97 Mini for $399.99 at Dell. Coupon expires 6AM CDT February 3rd, 2010 or after 1000 redemptions, whichever comes first. It’s cheaper than Nokia’s retail sites right now ($479) and even Amazon.

The Nokia N97 mini is designed for style-conscious people who are active with social networks. The device features a tilting 3.2″ touch display, QWERTY keyboard and fully customizable homescreen. Check out the Nokia N97 mini full specifications for more details.

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Deal: Nokia N900 $429 at Dell After Coupon – Exp 1/30

Mark Guim — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:30:24 +0000

Use coupon code MR2NCGS?ZTG63B to get the Nokia N900 for $429.99 at Dell. Coupon expires after 300 redemptions or 6AM EST January 30th, 2010, whichever comes first. It’s cheaper than Nokia’s retail sites right now ($569) and even Amazon.

The Nokia N900 packs a powerful ARM Cortex-A8 processor, up to 1GB of application memory and graphics accelerator. There’s also a 5 megapixel camera, built-in GPS, hardware keyboard, and more. Take a look at my Nokia N900 review for more details and my thoughts on this device.

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Deal: Nokia E72 $314 at Dell after Coupon – Exp 1/30

Mark Guim — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:02:28 +0000

Use coupon code VBMFS9FV$KCDSG to get the Nokia E72 for $314.99 at Dell. Coupon expires after 400 redemptions or 12PM EST January 30th, 2010, whichever comes first. It’s cheaper than Nokia’s retail sites right now ($359) and even Amazon.

The Nokia E72 is a messaging powerhorse that’s supposed to be the upgrade to the popular E71. It is one of the thinnest QWERTY devices. The 5 megapixel camera with LED flash isn’t bad either. Check the Nokia E72 full specifications for more details.

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Nokia N900 and Dell Vostro 1015 Bundled for $929

Mark Guim — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:01:40 +0000

Dell is bundling the Nokia N900 with their 15.6-inch Vostro 1015 laptop for $929. The specs are from their $499 ‘Economy Package’ configuration which gets you 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo T6570, Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, 2 MP webcam, integrated WiFi, GMA 4500MHD graphics and a 6-cell battery. This bundle means the Nokia N900 is worth $430.

Flip the laptop on eBay close to its listing price and you might come close to getting a really good deal for the Nokia N900. Unless of course you’re interested in keeping the Vostro. I’m not sure how long the discount will be available, but it started on the 21st.

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Nokia Releases New Ovi Store Video

Mark Guim — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:26:26 +0000

The official Nokia Conversations blog just shared a cool new video about the Ovi Store. Could it be somehow related to tomorrow’s press event? The Facebook, Gravity, and Qik apps get featured in an interesting animation. Take a look.

My main device right now is the Nokia N900. The Ovi store for this device is still in beta and doesn’t have a lot of apps or games available yet. I’m hoping that get’s fixed soon.

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Deal: Nokia N900 $469 at Dell After Coupon – Exp 1/16

Mark Guim — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:02:51 +0000

Use coupon code 4$11W9VRS8BT0N to get the Nokia N900 for $469.99 at Dell. Coupon expires after 600 redemptions or January 16th, 2010, whichever comes first. It’s cheaper than Nokia’s retail sites right now ($569) and even Amazon.

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Google Docs Opens Up to More Files – Perfect for Petrovich & Pixelpipe on Nokia N900

Mark Guim — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:03:32 +0000

Google announced on Tuesday that they are rolling out the ability to upload and store any type of file in Google Docs over the next few weeks. It’s cool that Nokia N900 users will be able to take advantage of this service directly from their device by using the Petrovich and Pixelpipe apps.

Upload files other than pics or vids with Petrovich

The Petrovich app on the N900 allows you to send a file of your choosing via Bluetooth, E-mail, or a “Sharing service”. Add Google Docs as one of your Pixelpipe pipes and you’ll be able to store any type of files on Google’s servers.

Let’s break it up in simple steps:

Install Petrovich
Install Pixelpipe
Add Google Docs to Pixelpipe
Take note of the routing tag. Default is “@gdocs”
Open Petrovich on Nokia N900
Select the file you want to upload and choose “Share via Service”
Type title or description, then add the “@gdocs” tag.
Make sure the account showing is Pixelpipe.
Click Share.
That’s it!

Nokia N900’s Share feature makes this possible

Google says, “you’ll have 1GB of free storage for files you don’t convert into one of the Google Docs formats (i.e. Google documents, spreadsheets, and presentations), and if you need more space, you can buy additional storage for $0.25 per GB per year.” File size limit is 250MB. This feature is not enabled for me yet, but it will be available in the next couple of weeks. Will you be using it with the Nokia N900?

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Deal: Nokia E71 White $229 at Dell after Coupon – Exp 1/16

Mark Guim — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:35:11 +0000

Use coupon code 4ZGWDCRD6BVG4H to get the white Nokia E71 for $229.99 at Dell SB. Coupon expires after 500 redemptions or January 16th, 2010, whichever comes first. It’s cheaper than Nokia’s retail sites ($295) right now and even Amazon.

Readers told me that the Dell coupons I’ve posted previously like this one only work in the USA, so I apologize in advance if it doesn’t work for you.

The Nokia E71 is a sleek Qwerty phone. It mobilizes a broad range of personal or professional messaging needs, including Microsoft Exchange. The E71 also includes a 3 megapixel camera with LED flash. For more details, check out the full specifications.

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Deal: Nokia 5800 Nav $239 at Dell After Coupon

Mark Guim — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 07:25:26 +0000

Use coupon code HVZ9WG0M$CN32W to get the Nokia 5800 Nav edition for $239.99 at Dell SB. Coupon expires after 500 redemptions or January 12th, 2010, whichever comes first. It’s cheaper than Nokia’s retail sites ($299) right now and even Amazon.

I’m not sure if this offer is available to Dell’s USA customers only. Let us know in the comments below if it doesn’t work from where you are.

The Nokia 5800 Nav edition comes pre-loaded with a lifetime of voice-guided Drive and Walk navigation licenses with an in-box car charger and Nokia car kit. Features from the original Nokia 5800 also apply, such as the 3.2in touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, and more. Check out the full specifications for more details.

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Google Nexus One vs Nokia N900 Hardware Photos and First Impressions

Mark Guim — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:58:34 +0000

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Google Nexus One was announced, available for purchase, and shipped at the same time just a couple of days ago. Mine was just delivered and the first thing I wanted to do is compare it in size with Nokia’s own super-phone, the Nokia N900. Take a look.

Photos

Nexus One First Impressions

So far, I’m blown away by the size and display of the Nexus One. It’s more pocketable than the Nokia N900 because of its thickness. The colors on the display are richer and appear to stand out more than the N900 too.

I still need to get used to not having a real hardware keyboard on the Nexus because I’ve already misspelled plenty of messages. Correcting myself was annoying.

I don’t have any complaints about the web browser after some quick browsing, but I didn’t like it when websites forced me to use their mobile version.

Setting up the Nexus One was very fast. My Google mail, calendar, contacts were all synced right away after entering my email address. The Nokia N900 cannot currently sync all these three services using Exchange. As expected, there were also much more apps available on the Android device over Maemo.

I’ll have a full review of the Google Nexus One soon after more usage. This is primarily a Nokia blog, so I’ll place a lot of emphasis on comparing it with other Nokia devices especially the Nokia N900.

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Shazam Launches Updated Application for Ovi Store: Fails To Share on Twitter

Mark Guim — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:48:47 +0000

A new version of Shazam is now on the Ovi store. For those who are not familar with the app, it identifies songs. Want to know the title of that song playing at the club? Just Shazam it! In addition to some interface changes, the updated version now supposedly lets users to share tags or the recognized music info on Twitter.

I was excited to hear about the Twitter-sharing feature, but it doesn’t work for me. I’ve tested it on the Nokia N97 and Nokia N97 mini with no luck. I keep getting “Sharing track data with Twitter failed.”

Another great feature of Shazam searches music videos of the identified song on Youtube. It works pretty well.

Users will be given a 30 day free trial of the fully featured application from the first time they use it on their Nokia device. After 30 days, users can continue for free on a limited feature and tagging basis or choose to upgrade to the fully-featured, unlimited usage version for a one-off fee of $4.99.

Fails to Share tags on Twitter

Download the free application at the Ovi Store within your phone or access store.ovi.com. Let me know if you can get the sharing feature to work.

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Liveblogging 1:1 Session With Nokia

Mark Guim — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:55:36 +0000

I was invited to a 1:1 session with Nokia here in NYC along with a few select folks to talk to Nokia about the next few devices in the pipeline and where they are headed. It was also mentioned we’ll get our hands on the Nokia N900, Booklet 3G and maybe a couple others. I’ll try to provide some live photos and updates here using the Nokia N900. It starts at 3PM eastern, November 16th.

3:13 PM: sorry for the confusion. it’s actually at 3:30

3:49 PM:

4:09 PM: hands on with the booklet 3g

4:09 PM: have any questions?

4:09 PM:

4:30 PM: just finished shooting video of the booklet 3g with joe gallo

4:33 PM:

5:30 PM: bowling and devices!

5:31 PM:

6:15 PM:

6:53 PM:

7:18 PM: just left lucky strike. would definitely go back there

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Tmobile USA Speed Tests on Nokia N900 24 hrs After the Outage – Faster?

Mark Guim — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:01:19 +0000

After unlocking my iPhone and testing if a T-mobile USA SIM card worked on it, a nationwide outage occurred. For a moment, I thought it was my fault. Well, it’s back in service and T-mobile confirmed it was a backend system software error. I ran some speed tests on the Nokia N900 today to see any changes.

Before Outage

Tests from October 15th

After Outage

Tests from November 4th

Results

It seems both download and upload speeds increased after the outage. Is this conclusive? I’m not sure, but I hope I continue getting these speed rates on the Nokia N900 here in New York.

Oh, and one more thing… speedtest.net is a flash site. Not many phones right now can even see this page on their browsers.

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Nokia N900 Camera Flash Test at Nokia NYC October Meetup Dinner

Mark Guim — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:02:28 +0000

Last Wednesday was the first year anniversary of the Nokia Users Monthly Meetup in New York. As usual, we hung out at the NY flagship store for a couple of hours, then headed out for food and drinks. We went to our original spot, Brother Jimmy’s, and I had the Nokia N900 to take some flash photos. Check it out.

Gallery

The Nokia N900’s flash photos weren’t great, but they were also not horrible. The dual LEDs flash lit up the subjects pretty well, but noise is noticeable in some of the photos. The photos would have been better if there was xenon flash on the N900, but I’m sure Nokia’s engineers had good reasons to leave it out of this device. What do you think of the photos?

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Nokia N97 Mobile Computing Giveaway Winner

Mark Guim — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:59:29 +0000

Thanks everyone for over 200 submissions in the Nokia N97 Giveaway. It was a hard decision, but we now have our winner! Congratulations to ChrisStobbs from Youtube who posted a very funny and informative video response. I still can’t stop laughing at his Nokia N97 cardboard costume with slider. Check it out.

Here’s Chris’ response to what Mobile Computing means to him:

I will be contacting Chris through Youtube for his address info. WOMWorld Nokia will be sending him the Nokia N97 prize.

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GSM Palm Pre Announced – Threat to Nokia N900?

Mark Guim — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:17:44 +0000

News of the GSM Palm Pre releasing in October broke out today and I’m wondering if this affects your buying decision for the Nokia N900? The Palm Pre w/ SIM slot will support UMTS/HSDPA Bands 850/1900/2100, meaning European and US 3G on AT&T. No announcements for a Nokia N900 variant supporting AT&T 3G has been made yet.

Photo by offstandard / CC BY-NC 2.0

There’s a catch if you decide to get the Palm Pre over the Nokia N900. According to PreCentral, you might still need to unlock the Pre for use outside O2 or even get a QWERTZ keyboard. Here’s a quick rundown of the specs found on the Pre:

3.1-inch touch screen
320×480 resolution
QWERTY keyboard
3 megapixel camera w/ LED flash
Built-in GPS
8GB of user storage
3.5mm stereo

How does this new information affect your buying decision for the Nokia N900?

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How Nokia Stands Against the 2009 Standard

Andrew Leung — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:36:07 +0000

I did a rant about Nokia going off course. It was also the last time I wrote a post on this blog, I’ve been drawing blanks on what to write for some time. But after nearly a year has passed, what kind of changes have we seen? Lets explore what new things have been introduced and how they stand against the 2009 standard.

Photo by jblndl / CC BY 2.0

Tough Year

Some bullet points from last year’s post :

Too many devices with minute changes
Weak hardware for 2008-2009 //Lackluster email
S60 showing signs of age
The competition was catching up
Felt like Nokia was following some of it’s competitor’s mistakes

This year has been trying and tough for Nokia, but in the end, it was a year the company has tried to learn from its mistakes. I can honestly say nothing they released thus far in 2009 was truly exciting to me. I very much anticipated the 5800 and really wanted to see the N97 shine, but was left wanting a little more by both handsets. However, at this very moment, the notion of the impending Nokia N900 on a new OS revamped OS (YES!) is refreshing. That device is truly what mobile phone enthusiasts want to see. On top of new software, they are providing more powerful hardware.

I want to see how this pans out. I barely used a Nokia device this year. I sold my 5800, my mom uses (and loves) my N85 (thank you Mark for the live search / paypal trick last year). You might ask, how I’ve gotten by?

Well, for email and overall messaging, I use a Blackberry. Nothing Nokia offers comes close to the messaging power of a Blackberry (email + IM + BBM). For imaging, I still swap my old (now my mom’s) N85 should I want to go out and snap some photos. However, as the N86 NAM was not out at the time the Sony Ericsson C905A was, I used the SE 8MP camera as well. That phone took some great photos and has some seriously cool camera functions, but alas is a dumb phone, and lacked a lot of versatility over the N85. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a shootout between the phones to see which is better. I have a feeling I’d like the N86 because S60 as old as it is, is a better OS than SE’s dumbphone OS. However, it’s picture quality that were talking about here.

Outlook

Being a trying year for Nokia, how do they compared to last year? I feel like the outlook has actually improved, but still needs some work.

The number of high-end handsets they’ve released has diminished. Contrary to how some feel, I think that this is better for the consumer. Now that all the bells and whistles (GPS, 5/8+ mp cameras, 3.5g etc etc) are coming standard, people no longer have to choose which features they want to sacrifice for another, they get it all. Look at the Nokia N97. While it might not have been a phone with the greatest execution just looking at the hardware, it seems to be a winner for having everything. Now that features are becoming standard on the high end phones, it only becomes a matter of which form factor you prefer.

Hardware. This is a touchy subject. Overall, I like where they are going with the overall upgrading of the high end sets. Also, releasing new versions of their staples (Nokia N86, currently unreleased E72, etc) is a good move. Some people are happy with what they have but wouldn’t mind hardware software upgrades in the form of a new shell. This is what all tech companies should be doing… finding what people want and what works, and consistently improving on the design. However I still feel like they are lagging behind a little bit. Instead of being ahead of the curve, it still seems like they are slightly behind it.

Later on this year and early next year feature phones from other brands will come naturally equipped with 8mp cameras (Sony Ericsson WALKMAN phones will be equipped with 8mp cameras). Multimedia flagships will be sporting 12+ mp cameras, or 720p video capture (SE Satio, Samsung Omnia HD). The iPhone got a serious speed boost in the 3Gs version of the phone, and new Blackberries, which although are only sporting 3.2 mp cameras have more ram and cpu speed than most Nseries devices. If RIM or Apple ever decide to put monstrous cameras into their phones Apple would probably take some time, but RIM is trying quite hard to get more consumer marketshare. Rumors of that happening are already out there, but of course, like all other rumors, should be taken with a grain of salt. Email and messaging sill pale in comparison to the two most popular types out phones out there, (BBs and iPhones).

Lastly, screens are finally to go high res, high pixel density is the way to go, most of the competitor’s phones do not share a 320×240 screen at any of the higher price points anymore. Lets hope that resolution becomes a thing of the past next year. C’mon, OLED + higher res, give us something pretty to look at!

I love what Nokia does each year with their luxury lines. If the Erdos becomes a reality, it will be a great phone with lots of utility and look stunning. If it’s one thing Nokia knows how to do, it’s make an expensive handset out of premium materials that both look and feel awesome.

Finally, some US carrier support from Nokia. They delivered on the awesome Nokia E71x. But if they had more like this, they would really be able to open up the NAM market.

What do you think of the outlook? What excites you and which do you want to buy to be your daily handset? I really want to check out the Erdos and the Nokia N900. Comment and flame away!

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Nokia N97 Giveaway: What does Mobile Computing Mean to You?

Mark Guim — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:23:10 +0000

The Nokia Blog is turning 3 on September 30th and I’ll be giving away a brand new Nokia N97 that day. Tell me what mobile computing means to you and I’ll pick my favorite response. You have until September 29th 11:59 PM Eastern time to submit it. I will accept tweets, comments, blog posts, and preferably videos. Just make sure I can find it!

You can also watch this video in HD on Youtube or Subscribe to my Youtube channel to watch my videos before they get published on the blog.

This contest was kicked off by Tomoharu Yazawa, the global product manager for the Nokia N97. You can watch his thoughts on mobile computing on Ovi Share.

I’ll announce the winner on our third year of blogging which is September 30th. The prize is a brand new Nokia N97 provided by WOMWorld Nokia. What are you waiting for?!?

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Video: Opera Mini 5 on Nokia 5530 & Nokia N97

Mark Guim — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:37:20 +0000

Opera Mini 5 Beta is out now and I installed it right away to give you a video demo. I use the Nokia 5530 and the Nokia N97 to show the browser’s new features like tabbed browsing, thumbnail bookmarks, and other usability improvements. Go watch it!

You can also watch this video in HD on Youtube.

Opera Mini 5 can be downloaded by going to mini.opera.com/next from your mobile phone. It is compatible with most Nokia phones.

I think it is a great alternative to the default browser because it loads larger pages faster. However, it does not support flash, and there are still bugs to fix. For example, when I slide open the Nokia N97, the on-screen keyboard still shows up. It is still in beta, so I wouldn’t criticize it too much.

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Nokia 5530 XpressMusic Hands-On Photos

Mark Guim — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:54:04 +0000

The Nokia 5530 Xpressmusic arrived at The Nokia Blog for review. It’s the same device that was uncovered from Nokia Conversations’ Pass the Parcel game. Briefly, its got a 2.9in touchscreen, runs on S60v5, 4GB microSD card included, contacts carousel in the homescreen, and no support for 3G. That’s enough specs for now. Check the photos.

Nokia 5530 Gallery

view all photos

I’ll have to play with it a little bit to give you some of my impressions. This phone came straight from the box then right in front of the camera.

The full specifications can be found here, but check out the highlights below:

Dimensions: 104.0 x 49 x 13 mm
Weight: 107 g
Screen size: 2.9″
Screen Resolution: 640 x 360 pixels
BL-4U 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery
Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Symbian S60 5.0
3.2 megapixel camera w/ LED flash
Video recording at up to 640 x 480 pixels (VGA) and up to 30 fps
3.5 mm stereo headphone plug

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Nokia N97 Mini Targeted For Fashionistas

Mark Guim — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:25:35 +0000

Plenty of Nokia users are probably wondering why Nokia decided to make the Nokia N97 mini so soon after the release of the flagship Nokia N97. I asked this question to a spokesperson at Nokia World in Stuttgart, Germany and filmed the response. Check it out.

You can also watch this video in HD on Youtube.

According to the Nokia rep, they are targeting a different audience for the Nokia N97 mini. These are people who are more fashion and design-centric than the regular Nokia N97 users. They want all the technical features, but also place importance on being able to flaunt the device.

As a Nokia N97 user, I’m a little confused at who they are targeting. I use the Nokia N97 and flaunt it to my friends whenever I get the chance. I also think it’s a beautiful device.

The Nokia N97 Mini and the regular Nokia N97 are pretty much similar except the missing lens cover, different keypad, smaller battery, 8GB built-in memory instead of 32GB. The size is smaller, but the difference isn’t very noticeable.

As a current Nokia N97 user, the Nokia N97 mini looks tempting because it looks like it can take night photos without the flash flooding. This problem is notorious on the regular Nokia N97.

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Nokia N900 Hands-On Photos

Mark Guim — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:18:56 +0000

There was one Nokia N900 in a room of 15 bloggers, so trying to get my hands on it was not that easy. I haven’t spent much time actually using it and I’m sure I will later on today. For now, I hope these hands-on photos make you drool.

Wifi signal is very weak at the current room we’re in, so trying to load a webpage isn’t working. The web browser is an aspect of the Nokia N900 I really want to check out.

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Prototype Nokia N900 Sample Photos Found on Flickr

Mark Guim — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:26:14 +0000

Before I head over to Germany in a few hours for Nokia World, I thought you should see some sample photos taken with the Nokia N900 that were discretely uploaded on Flickr. Remember the Flickr search trick? No results for Nokia N900, but plenty show up for prototype model “007 001.” Check it out.

Let’s start with incriminating photos.

The photo above was conveniently placed in a photo set called “N900.” Now take a look at the camera model by checking the right sidebar on the Flickr page. It says “007 001″

If you’re still not convinced, the next photo pretty much confirms the Nokia N900 as the 007 001 model. @chansearrington posted a twitpic with a caption, “test”. He then replied it was from a Nokia N900 that wasn’t final hardware or firmware. If you download the full image, the exif data shows it was taken from camera model, “007 001.”

Sample Photos

We just need to perform the Flickr search trick for camera “007 001″ to see Nokia N900 sample photos.

site:flickr.com “Taken with a 007 001″

I’ve listed a few below. Click to enlarge the photos and see their respective owners.

There are lots more. Just use the trick to find them!

As a reminder, these photos are from Nokia N900’s that are not running final firmware. I expect to see improvements before they become available later this year.

The next post will be blogged from Stuttgart, Germany. I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on a Nokia N900. Check back as I provide firsthand coverage directly from Nokia World!

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There is Hope For Nokia N900 Variant Using AT&T’s 3G in the US

Mark Guim — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 07:30:52 +0000

The Nokia N900 sure looks like the next Nokia device to get, but the announcement leaves current Nokia ‘NAM’ users in the dark. For the past few years in the US, I had to be an AT&T subscriber if I wanted high-end Nokia phones with 3G internet. Nokia produced phone variations labeled ‘NAM’ that worked with AT&T’s high-speed network. The Nokia N900 announced recently will not work with AT&T’s 3G, but there is hope for a forthcoming variation.

If you look closely at the specs, the Nokia N900 supports WCDMA 900/1700/2100 MHz. The Nokia NAM phones (like Nokia N85 NAM, E71 NAM, 5800 NAM, etc.) supported WCDMA 850/1900/2100 MHz. T-mobile subscribers will be happy to finally use 3G on a Nokia Nseries, but it is safe to say that the Nokia fanatics in the US are mostly on AT&T to take advantage of the 3G bands.

One of our readers, Alvin, wrote to Nokia about this issue and forwarded over their response.

Alvin,

You are correct, we’ve announced the Nokia N900 yesterday. We have not announced where it will be available but have just said that it will be released in select regions.

Regarding the network bands, you are correct – we announced a WCDMA 900/1700/2100 MHz bands. We have not made any announcements regarding an 850/1900/2100 MHz band device. An announcement will be forthcoming.

Thanks,
Joe

Alvin interprets this email as a hint that another variation may be announced. What do you think?

Update:Joe Gallo from Nokia AND the sender of this email quoted above has notified me that this email was fabricated. The original email did not include the last sentence.

Mark,

Here’s the email trail I had with “Alvin.” As you can see, there was no statement regarding “a forthcoming announcement” and the fact that he positioned himself as a writer for you is equally disheartening as, if it was not for our outstanding relationship, it could’ve been a serious issue.

I’ll be calling you shortly to discuss what measures we can take to ensure this doesn’t happen again and to ensure the proper message is issued on the Nokia Blog regarding N900.

Thanks,
Joe

Here’s the proper email trail provided by Mr. Gallo:

From: ext Alvin [email address removed]
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 12:20 PM
To: Corp Communication (RES-Nokia/USA)
Subject: Question about Nokia N900 release

Hello there,
I write for a website called nokiablog.com and i would like to find out as per your announcement of the Nokia N900 whether this is a global release and if not, if there will be a global release sometime soon.

I have also noticed that the N900 has been announced with WCDMA 900/1700/2100 MHz bands. It seems like its being release for use on the tmobile network in the USA. I would like to find out if there will eventually be an WCDMA 850/1900/2100 version for the AT&T network in the USA. Seems a strange move to leave out AT&T customers with the release of the N900.

I would like some kind of claification on this issue as there are thousands of emails in my inbox from folks who use AT&T asking about whether this phone will be eventually be released for use on the AT&T network.

Thank you kindly and I await your response.

Alvin.

On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 4:35 PM, wrote:
Alvin,

You are correct, we’ve announced the Nokia N900 yesterday. We have not announced where it will be available but have just said that it will be released in select regions.

Regarding the network bands, you are correct – we announced a WCDMA 900/1700/2100 MHz bands. We have not made any announcements regarding an 850/1900/2100 MHz band device.

Thanks,
Joe

From: ext Alvin (last name removed) [Email address removed]
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 5:20 PM
To: Gallo Joseph (Nokia-COM/WhitePlains)
Subject: Re: Question about Nokia N900 release

Thank you Joe for you prompt response. When announcement regarding the 850/1900/2100 MHz band device is made can i be notified via email? Would really appreciate it very much as my inbox is currently filled to the maximum with thousands upon thousands of AT&T network users grilling me for any information regarding 850/1900/2100 MHz band device.

Correction for my website link i posted , instead of nokiablog.com, its thenokiablog.com.

Thank you Joe.

Alvin

There are two things here that bother me. First, Alvin claimed to write for this site, but that is not true. Alvin also decided to add his own sentence and include it as a quote from Joe Gallo. I made the mistake of not confirming this previously with Joe directly and I apologize for that.

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Nokia N900 Size Comparison

Mark Guim — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:39:26 +0000

We’re very interested in the Nokia N900, but will it be too big? The best way to find out is through size comparisons between devices we’ve probably seen before. I’ve entered the Nokia N900 dimensions on Sizeasy next to the iPhone, Nokia E71, and Nokia N97. Take a look.

Color Guide

Top view

Front and Side view

Actual Comparison

Here’s an actual comparison between the Nokia E71 and N900. This photo was shared by @chansearrington on Twitter.

I think the best way to imagine it in your hands is that it’ll have the width of the iPhone with the thickness of the Nokia N97. Fortunately Nokia made it shorter than all the devices compared here. Does the size of the Nokia N900 bother you?