Nokia Malaysia video teases April 25th announcement, loses us in the process

Nokia Lumia ad asks 'what can the matter be', puts Malaysians on edge

Flickering hospital lights. A man going ballistic in a padded cell. A hooded ghoul. These are the images Nokia Malaysia wants to put into our heads in the run-up to a mysterious Lumia-related launch coming on April 25th. That date has also been linked to Verizon’s launch of the Lumia 928, but we’re not sure how that might be relevant. Alternatively, it could be a countdown to the Malaysian launch of the Lumia 720 or Lumia 520. The thing is, we’re intimately familiar with both those handsets and neither can be described as even remotely spooky. Unless it’s another Batman Edition?

Update: The video on Nokia’s official YouTube channel has been pulled. We’ve added a different embed in the hope of preserving this curious piece of marketing for future generations.

[Thanks, Piaget]

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Source: Nokia Malaysia (YouTube), LumiaLiveCentre.com

The Daily Roundup for 04.18.2013

DNP The Daily RoundUp

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Nokia Lumia Sales Hit New Record In Q1 2013

Nokia Lumia Sales Hit New Record In Q1 2013

Nokia Lumia smartphones are a result of a billion dollar deal between the Finnish manufacturer and Microsoft. Nokia buried its own operating system in favor of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. The entire smartphone line is built on this very platform, and it is doing quite well. Considering that Lumia 920 is the best selling Windows Phone device, its not unexpected to see that Nokia Lumia sales hit a new record this past quarter.

In its Q1 2013 earnings report Nokia states that it sold 5.6 million Lumia smartphones, a big increase from the previous quarter in which it sold 4.4 million Lumias. It also mentions in the report that two thirds of all Lumia devices sold in Q1 2013 were running on Windows Phone 8. Despite global sales being at a record high, Nokia has taken a hit in the U.S. market. Only 400,000 devices were shipped, causing a 33% year on year decline. The U.S. market is dominated largely by Apple and Samsung, though Nokia is trying hard to capture a substantial piece of the market. Nokia’s upcoming Verizon Lumia 928 launch might help boosting its share in this particular market.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Galaxy S4 Arriving On Verizon This May, New Motorola Phones Could Be Unbreakable, Google CEO Drops Hint,

    

Nokia tipped to be working on Galaxy Note rival

Nokia reported its Q1 2013 financial results this morning, and while they’re slowly digging themselves out of a deep hole, they’re coming back around, and it seems they’re appetite for competition is growing, as it’s reported that the Finnish company is working on a phablet-style smartphone to be released later this year in order to take on Samsung’s Galaxy Note series.

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According to the Financial Times, “those with knowledge of the company’s plans” say that Nokia is working on a handful of new devices for 2013, one of which is a larger phablet-style handset that’ll sport at least a 5-inch display, and will be added to Nokia’s Lumia lineup sometime this year to rival the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note II.

This wouldn’t be too surprising, as it’s already known that Microsoft will be adding support for larger displays and 1080p resolutions to Windows Phone 8 at some point this year, and since Nokia’s a close partner with Microsoft, the company could be the first out of the gate with a phablet-style Windows Phone 8 device.

This will mark Nokia’s first move into the larger-display smartphone market, where it will be playing catch-up with the other handset manufacturers who have been making devices with larger screens for quite some time now. Will Nokia be able to make a splash with a 5-inch-or-larger Windows Phone 8 device?

[via Financial Times]


Nokia tipped to be working on Galaxy Note rival is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia To Follow Samsung’s Lead By Launching A Phablet This Year, Along With 40MP Lumia PureView & Lighter Lumia 920, Reports FT

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Rumours that Nokia is working on a Windows tablet, to supplement its line of Windows Phone-based Lumia smartphones, have been doing the rounds for well over a year, with extra fuel poured on the speculative bonfire last year when Microsoft announced its own line of tablet hardware. Earlier this year, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told an Australian newspaper it was looking closely at the tablet market — and thinking about “what the right way to participate would be and at what point in time”.  Well, if a story in the FT is on the money, Nokia may have decided that a phablet — rather than a tablet — is what it needs right now. (And with Windows tablet sales failing to make a huge impression so far, who could blame it?)

Phablets, for those fortunate enough to have avoided this most distressing of tech portmanteaus, stands for phone+tablet(=phablet). Phablets are typically classed as smartphones with screens of 5 inches or more on the diagonal, which can therefore function as small tablets. Phablets with 6+ inch screens are not now too unusual, pushing the category within touching distance of the mini tablet segment where screens tend to start at 7 inches.

According to the FT, which cites people with knowledge of Nokia’s plans, the former worldwide number one mobile maker (whose crown was snatched by Samsung) is planning several high end smartphones this year — including “a device that can work as a phone and a tablet [aka a phablet]… similar in size but with more advanced specifications to Samsung’s popular Galaxy Note”. The forthcoming phablet is described as the most “innovative” of Nokia’s planned smartphone releases this year, but there is no detail on exactly what features that will translate into (beyond obviously a bigger screen). The largest screened Lumia to date is Nokia’s current flagship, the Lumia 920, which packs a 4.5 inch pane.

Should Nokia be looking to launch its own phablet, hardware alone is unlikely to be enough to compete with Samsung. The latter arguably created the category with its original Galaxy Note (launched in 2011), and since then it has expanded its phablet efforts on both hardware and software fronts, creating apps and an SDK for its S Pen stylus, plus other phablet-specific software such as a split screen view feature. It has also expanded its phablet portfolio, with the Note II and a freshly  announcing new (likely cheaper) pair of devices, under a new brand: the Galaxy Mega.

Nokia will need to pour in similar feature-focused effort to ensure that any Lumia phablet is not just a big Windows Phone — but adds new functionality that make full use of the extra size. To date, with Lumia, Nokia has focused on the camera/imaging function for flagship devices, as well as differentiating via colourful hardware — so perhaps image editing software is one area where it could look to make a Lumia phablet stand out. (Especially as the Windows Phone platform still lacks the popular Instagram app.)

We reached out to Nokia for comment on the phablet rumour and a company spokesman said: “Nokia does not comment on market rumour or speculation.”

Other planned launches in Nokia’s pipeline this year are the previously rumoured ‘true PureView’ Lumia — which the FT’s sources say will have a 40 megapixel camera plus flash, and may get a July launch — and “a lighter and more advanced version” of the Lumia 920, presumably responding to complaints about the device’s weight. “Another lower priced version” of the 920 is also pegged for a fall launch. Rumours of an aluminium Lumia coming this year have surfaced before. Any ‘true PureView’ Windows Phone would be a considerably hefty creature — so offsetting such bulk by expanding the portfolio to offer lighter Lumia alternatives would make sense. Expanding the range of mid-range Lumias is something Nokia has been focusing on this year.

When TechCrunch spoke to Nokia’s Elop back in February 2012 we asked about phablets, and he told us it was an area of interest to Nokia, saying: “Tablets are an opportunity, and smartphones up to a certain size are an opportunity. We are looking closely [at the mid-size tablet market] and looking to see whether it will catch on.” Adding that while he personally liked the form factor of the Lumia 800 best because he can reach across the whole screen with his thumb “different things for different people in different markets” is its philosophy.

And when asked in a second interview, in February this year, about what innovation Nokia could bring to tablets Elop said: “We, obviously we’re looking at this market very closely. Like right now there’s a lot of shifting and things going on with all of us getting our first exposure to Windows 8, both from a PC perspective and a tablet perspective and we’re watching that very closely and based on what we’re learning there – and correctly answering the question you asked, what innovation [could you bring] because just a tablet by itself? Ok, so there’s many other tablets and so we have to make sure that in the same way with Lumia we said no we’re going to stand out, we have to make sure we’re thinking about that. So we’re watching that market – but haven’t announced a thing.”

Nokia has played in the tablet/phablet space before. Indeed, it was an early mover, unboxing its N800 Internet Tablet (which looks more like a phablet by today’s enormo-phone standards) back in 2007, years before the iPad burst onto the scene. But since transitioning from Symbian to Windows Phone, Nokia has concentrated its mobile efforts on phones exclusively.

Rumor: Nokia Is Planning a Galaxy Note Rival and Lighter Aluminum Lumia

The Financial Times is reporting that Nokia is, unfathomably, working on a large-screened smartphone whose size will rival that of Samsung’s Galaxy Note series. More »

Rumor: Nokia Is Planning a Galaxy Note Rival

The Financial Times is reporting that Nokia is, unfathomably, working on a large-screened smartphone whose size will rival that of Samsung’s Galaxy Note series. More »

The FT: Nokia planning ‘phablet’ for 2013, 41-megapixel Lumia too

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Between the Lumia Tablet and a Windows Phone device with proper PureView technology, the list of mythical Nokia devices is pretty short. The Financial Times, however, thinks that the company might be wading into the middle ground with a 5- or 6-inch device that’ll rival the Galaxy Note. The paper’s coterie of sources also reiterated the rumor that we’d see a Lumia flagship with the 41-megapixel sensor we’d seen on the 808, as well as a skinnier Lumia 920 arriving through the year. We’d love to believe it, but the story’s appearance just before the company’s first-quarter financial results makes us wonder if this isn’t a distraction.’

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Via: WMPowerUser

Source: The FT (Paywall)

Nokia Lumia 920, Lumia 820 And Lumia 620 Ready To Receive Software Updates

Nokia Lumia 920, Lumia 820 And Lumia 620 Ready To Receive Software UpdatesIt seems that the happy trio of Windows Phone 8 powered devices, namely the Nokia Lumia 920, Lumia 820 and Lumia 620, are set to receive software updates in the next few weeks. This new software update will see the firmware of the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 get bumped all the way to version 1232.5957.1308.00xx, where accompanying it would be the usual standard of stability and performance fixes, in addition to improved automatic brightness adjustment, as well as a fix for the occasional screen blanking that happens in the midst of a call.

As for the lower end Nokia Lumia 620, this particular smartphone is said to benefit a wee bit more from the 1030.6407.1308.00xx update, where it includes much improved touchscreen functions, a notch up where voice quality over Bluetooth headsets is concerned, as well as enhanced camera performance whenever the flash takes part in your photo taking sessions. Do be patient as this update is tipped to happen in phases within this month, so hold on tight and enjoy the ride.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Huawei Ascend W2 Specifications Reportedly Leaked, BlackBerry Rubbishes High Z10 Return Rates News,

    

Nokia outs firmware for Lumia 620, 820 and 920 for better touch, camera action

Nokia outs firmware for Lumia 620, 820 and 920 for better touch, camera action

Owners of Nokia’s Lumia 620, 820 and 920 are getting some firmware joy as the Swedish Finnish firm just released a new update for the Windows Phone 8 handsets. It’ll bring improved auto screen brightness / touch screen functionality, camera fixes, enhanced Bluetooth headset functionality and numerous performance and stability enhancements, according to Nokia. You can expect to see it rollout “over the coming weeks,” but may able to force the issue by selecting “phone update” from the settings. Check the source for more.

Update: Nokia’s Scandinavian Nordic but it sure ain’t Swedish. Thanks to all who pointed it out.

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Via: Ubergizmo

Source: Nokia Support